American students launch a rocket to an altitude of 15,548 metres and get jobs at SpaceX, Firefly and Blue Origin

Students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University were able to launch a rocket that set a new altitude record among US educational institutions. And the new rocket went more than twice as high as the previous record holder.

Here's What We Know

The students spent 4,000 hours building the rocket. This included development and testing. The launch took place in California's Mojave Desert. The rocket accelerated to Mach 1.4 (1,729 km/h) in 26.1 seconds and climbed to an altitude of 15,548 metres. The previous record was 6,706 metres.

Last autumn, students tried to launch the Altair rocket but it exploded. Engineers worked to eliminate all the problems, including reducing the mass of the structure.

The project attracted funding from several aerospace companies. These include Lockheed Martin and Firefly. The latter has offered some of the team members jobs. SpaceX and Blue Origin did the same.

Source: Rocket Development Lab